The Dish

A reader writes:

Having been bitter opponents in the Primary, there is definitely a perception of rivalry between Clinton and Obama. However, that rivalry is really only on one specific front: politics. I.e. this is not a rivalry based on policy.

Obama’s core message is to change the nature of politics in Washington. There simply is no room for compromise on this specific message. Clinton does not feel that the current political system is broken. She only believes that the wrong party is in power. These are not stances on which there can be common ground. And if there were common ground, it would only serve to erode Obama’s rationale.

Is there room for Obama to bring in rivals? Of course. But I think those rivals should be picked for policy differences. Picking policy rivals would be the way for Obama to fulfill his central promise in this campaign. Picking purely political rivals would prevent this fulfillment.

But policy rivals suggests incoherence. Maybe Hagel works?

I’m busted again:

"Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not."

K.D. Lang sings Leonard Cohen’s astonishing "Halleluja."

The lyrics:

Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time you let me know
What’s real and going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don’t even know the name
But if I did, well really, what’s it to you?
There’s a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Josh Green reports on efforts to replicate Obama’s money machine. 

Hanna sees David Cook’s triumph as a good harbinger for the Democrats.

A map of gas prices nationwide. Alexis Madrigal comments:

Note how similar gas prices are within individual states and how much they vary between states. Using just gas price data, you could practically draw the state lines, if they weren’t already inked in for you. Look at that Illinois-Missouri border!

This county-by-county highlights the importance of energy policy at the state level in driving prices, at least at the relatively small variations in price they are mapping here. At the big picture level, of course, all of these prices are several times higher than they were back in 1999.

Disappointing to me, but not so much to others:

The poll suggests the outcome of the proposed amendment is far from certain. Overall, it was leading 54% to 35% among registered voters. But because ballot measures on controversial topics often lose support during the course of a campaign, strategists typically want to start out well above the 50% support level.

"Although the amendment to reinstate the ban on same-sex marriage is winning by a small majority, this may not bode well for the measure," said Times Poll Director Susan Pinkus.

Another one:

Given the strong-arm tactics used in Hillary’s quest to be the VP nominee, it would be impossible for naming her not to be seen as appeasement.  If he cannot stand up to Bill and Hillary, how can we be confident that he can negotiate from a position of strength with Kim Jong-il?

Barack has one option here:  To rebuff her.

Kelley Vlahos considers Webb’s GI bill:

Webb, who is a Vietnam vet and whose son served in Iraq, made sure the bill was bullet-proof before shopping it around the Hill and in the media for the last several weeks. Its passage – thanks to the help of 26 Republicans – marks one of the biggest Democratic legislative victories this year, and gives them a healthy talking point in the November election, thanks to opposition from the White House, Pentagon and one senator by the name of John McCain.

President Bush wants to veto the measure, and his case is helped, if only because the Democrats attached $10 billion in additional domestic spending to the package. Ironically, the spending, which includes the extension of unemployment benefits and aid to the Gulf States, is what helped to bring some of the Republican stragglers like Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., on board at the last minute, in part because of their vulnerabilities in the fall elections.

But the real opposition from Bush and McCain and the defense brass is that they believe one stint in the active duty isn’t enough time to give to one’s country, that a full college tuition after three years might discourage servicemen and women from making the military a career. Webb and others say hogwash, if a guy or a gal spends three years – and we all know that amounts to at least one, or two years in the warzone today – they deserve whatever we can give ‘em. Remember, even the draftees during Vietnam only spent a year overseas before they were let off the hook and they got a GI Bill that at the time paid for something. The old GI Bill, not adjusted for today’s skyrocketing tuition costs, won’t even get a vet through a four-year state school today.

I’m a little staggered that McCain allowed himself to be outmaneuvered on this by Webb and Obama.

"Well, in 2004, I expect to be campaigning for the reelection of President George W. Bush, and by 2008, I think I might be ready to go down to the old soldiers home and await the cavalry charge there." – John McCain, eight years ago. Look: life is long.